1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headphone apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a headphone apparatus having a suspender member which is deformed along the shape of a user's head when the headphone is fitted thereon.
2. Background of the Invention
There has hitherto been proposed a headphone apparatus having unit sections each containing one of a pair of speaker units and interconnected by a connector bridge which is bent substantially arcuately to form a head band. The headphone apparatus is fitted with the connector bridge set on the user's head and with the speaker units set on the user's pinnas. When the headphone apparatus is set in this manner, the speaker units are positioned facing the pinnas.
In a certain version of the above-described headphone apparatus, the distance between the center of the connector bridge and the speaker units is adjustable in order to accommodate the distance from the scalp to the pinnas which is variable from user to user. This version of the headphone apparatus is designed so that the unit sections are movable along the connector bridge with respect thereto.
In another version of the headphone apparatus, such adjustment of the distance between the scalp and the pinnas may be achieved automatically. This version of the headphone apparatus includes a belt-shaped member 103 contained in a connector bridge 101 and a head pad 102 mounted on the belt-shaped member 103, as disclosed in, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,599 and as shown herein in FIG. 1.
The headphone apparatus includes a pair of housings 1, 2 each containing a speaker unit and a connector bridge 101 interconnecting the housings 1 and 2. Both end portions of the connector bridge 101 are connected to the housings 1 and 2 by a holder 6 and a supporting arm 5. The connector bridge 101 is hollow and has slits 104 in the inner surface of the end portions thereof facing the user's head for communication with the hollow interior of the connector bridge. The belt-shaped member 103 is a looped member including a mid spring section contained within the bridge 101 and non-extendable sections of a non-extendable material, such as cloth, connected to both ends of the spring section. The belt-shaped member 103 has its spring section and its near-by section disposed within the hollow interior of the connector bridge 101 and has its non-extendable sections pulled out of the connector bridge 101 via the slits 104. The head pad 102 is formed of a flexible material, such as synthetic resin or rubber, and has the shape of an elongated ring or toroidal member. The head pad 102 has its both ends mounted on both ends of the belt-shaped member 103. The head pad 102 is mounted on the belt-shaped member 103 for constituting a toroidal member along with the belt-shaped member 103.
As the head pad is thrust against the user's head, the belt-shaped member 103 is pulled out of the connector bridge 101, with the head pad thrusting the head from above under the elastic recoiling force of the spring section. With the head pad 102 thrusting the scalp of the user's head, the housings 1, 2 are supported at the positions facing the pinnas. Thus it is possible with the present headphone apparatus to cope with the variable distance between the scalp and the pinnas of the individual users without changing the relative disposition of the housings 1, 2 and the connector bridge 101.
The above-described headphone apparatus having the belt-shaped member 103 and designed to cope with the variable distance between the scalp and the pinnas of the individual users automatically is complex in mechanical construction and has a large number of component parts. In addition, since it is necessary to have the belt-shaped member contained within the interior of the connector bridge, the assembling operation is necessarily complex. Besides, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the headphone apparatus shown in FIG. 1 because of the complex structure. Furthermore, the connector bridge 101 cannot be reduced in width because of limitations imposed on the shape and the structure of the connector bridge 101.